This guide is designed to give a newcomer to sea fishing from the shore a bit of a head start.

Tackle Needed

To begin shore fishing there are a few essential items and a few that will make life a lot easier, as with anything there are a range of qualities and prices available for most products, I will start with the items I feel you should prioritsise your spending on.

Rod - You want at least a 12ft long rod to fish from the shore, casting with anything less is not easy and will hamper your catches, I would actually suggest a 13-15ft rod to begin with, as these new longer rods offer increased casting distance for the begginer. Definatly buy as good a rod as you can afford, its possibly the most important item for shore fishing. We stock the new fox rods, The frontier shore master comes in 13' and 15' and is an ideal rod for any newcommer, but is good enough to keep you going for a few years. Some of the very cheap 12ft rods are really not worth buying, you will find that if you get into the sport your out buying a decent rod very quickly, so end up paying twice. Or worse tghan that you dont enjoy using a cheap rod and never go fishing again!!

Reel - A fixed spool reel is the best bet to learn to cast and fish with, as with the rod try and get the most expensive one your budget allows, some of the very cheap ones will fall apart in no time. Whilst not quite as important as the rod, the reel is a key part of your fishing kit, ideally you want a spare spool, which you can line up in your bag, so if you break off in a snag or casting you can just swap the spool over and be fishing in minutes.

Line - Please see my other article about which line to use.Aways carry spare line, in case of break off etc.

Rigs and Weights - I also have another article about rigs, but to begin with for  most fishing situations a 2 hook flapper will be fine, We sell these rigs ready made, you simply clip the rig onto your mainline, clip on a weight, bait it up and cast. Generally speaking a breakaway weight is suited to most shore situations, however if there is a lot of tide you may find a fixed wire lead will hold out better. 5-6oz for breakaway and 6-8oz for fixed wire. Fixed wires are often required on piers where you are in deeper faster moving water. Always make sure you have a few rigs and weights, as you can easily lose them.

Rod Rest - If you fishing from a beach then a rod rest is essential, a tripod one is best for most situations, if you are using more than 1 rod, make sure the tripod will hold them.

 I would suggest the following items are almost essential:

• Scissors or snips for line
• Filet Knife for Bait
• Bait elastic - depending on the bait you are using, crab and sandeel both are best with elastic
• Discorger - Tbar is probably best
• Fish Measure - Especcialy if you are fishing a match or want to take fish home, they need to be legal size
• Rod Bag - This will protect your rods, and also make your rod and rod rest much easier to carry
• Bait/Fish Bucket - Again makes carrying everthing much easier
• Tackle Box or Bag - A box is best as it can double as a seat

The thing with fishing is you really can spend as much money as you want, there are rods costing over £400, Rells costing over £200, Many anglers take 2-3 rods and upto 10 reels in their kit every time they go fishing,There are endless other items that can be added, however to get started with kit that is of a usable quality you are looking at spending somewhere in the region of £100 - £200. I would say that if your just going mackerel fishing in the summer from a pier than you can get away with spending about £50 but for proper winter beach fishing you really need to invest a little more, and you will get the return with more fish and a lot more enjoyment.

If you have never fished before and want some advice give us a call or an email and we can point you in the right direction. Tel 01304 382220

Tight Lines

Richard